Broken Fairy Tales

6

She was in his head, seeing through his eyes. They were in a crowded room that stank of sweat, alcohol and arousal. Humans and wolves mixing together on the dance floor. Beautiful bodies grinding against each other to the heavy bass from the industrial speakers surrounding the dance floor.

Ash had still been considered a child the last time she had seen a ball in person, and it had been an uptight, formal stuffy affair where her gown was so heavy and the skirts so full it was hard to move, let alone dance in it.

As Ash watched the scene she noticed they were on the outside of the crowd looking in. Several other young wolves waved or motioned for her pretty wolf boy to join them as they danced with a group of human girls wearing ridiculous outfits. One girl was wearing a plastic crown with a veil trailing behind and a black tank emblazoned with BRIDE in a radioactive pink font.

A handsome guy with dark hair and eyes came over, a wide smile on his lips and the smell of whiskey strong on his breath. 'Come on! It won't kill you to dance with them.' he implored.

I heard my pretty wolf finally speak, his voice like music in my ears, 'dancing won't kill me, but Gloria might.' the other wolf slapped him on the back hard enough to rattle my teeth.

With a laugh the other man wriggled his hips with the music as he sauntered back to the group, stealing a kiss on the lips from the bride to be making the whole group of women squeal shrilly. My pretty wolf stood to the side, watching the crowd, the doors.

He was a guard. Ash realized, making a note of everything she was learning here. He wasn't drinking. He wasn't there to dance or mingle. He was there as protection for someone. And who was Gloria, Ash wondered to herself. Not understanding the sinking feeling she had felt hearing another woman's name fall from his lips.

Ash heard a whimper, it wasn't from within the dream, but from the real world. Ash didn't have to wonder long what had caused the fear to rise in their currently shared body until she felt the dream be roughly invaded by a third party. The stench of an underworld heavy in the air as the invader coalesced into being.

Everything in the club froze as the most beautiful woman with pale skin, long flowing black hair like liquid ebony and dark wide eyes weaved her way through the frozen room, directly towards them. But there was something off about her, like she wasn't able to fully materialize in the astral plane, the smell of death and rot strong around her.

"Where has my pretty little puppy disappeared to?" she cooed at him, smiling as the scent of his fear filled the space. I could feel a burning pain on the side of his neck as the nightmare woman reached towards him with a slender finger. Shit. She was in trouble now. Red glowing eyes studied us, looking into his eyes. Stopping to smile and Ash knew the creature in front of them could sense her through all of her cloaking spells and wardings.

Fuck. Ash knew what this was, even she had been warned of this monster. The undead vampire witch seductress. Valentina. The wolf and man Ash was hidden inside of were both whimpering now. The burning sensation on the side of their neck was painful and impossible to ignore. Fear ran through her. She could see the desperation in Valentina's eyes, could see the decay seeping from her. Whatever had made Valentina strong, wasn't helping her anymore. The magic around her was wrong, and weaker than Ash knew the vampire witch was rumored to be. Valentina was a desperate, caged animal right now. Capable of anything if she thought it might improve her current poor condition.

No. No. No. No. Ash screamed before her magic took over, sensing her fear, deciding the danger was real. Doing what it did best. Protecting her from all the trouble she found, regardless of what was caught up in the crossfire or the damage it would cause.

As Ash's magic bloomed inside the dream of its own free will, first banishing the seductress from the astral plane. Maybe entirely. Ash wasn't sure, it had happened too fast for her see the spell in the air then she purposely locked down the dream using all of her focus to try and shelter the wolf, keep him protected from her stupid mistakes. Leaving herself to feel like she was lost in rapids, tumbling in a void, unable to even breathe as her magic became a torrent around her as she tried to find her way in it.